


Selfish

by denytheworld



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Drama, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Gen, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:44:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denytheworld/pseuds/denytheworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Portgas D. Rouge wants to be selfish for the first and last time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Selfish

How they found out, Rouge would never know. She didn't care very much either. The damage had already been done and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. But if she were to hazard a guess, to pick a reason, she'd blame Roger. It always was his fault.

The marines were coming. No one knows why.

Rouge cradled the still flat plane of her abdomen and smiled. It'll be alright Ace.

She had always been a good girl. Friendly, generous, reliable and without a mean thought in her life. It wasn't too late for her to be that girl again, she knew that. "Here I am," she would have to say, "Take me." Then the marines would file back, real orderly-like, onto their ships and sail away without harming anyone else.

Then this madness would be over. Women all over the world would no longer have to face this unjust persecution. No families would be torn apart. All it took was her life - and that of her child's.

But she won't.

It was selfish, she knows this. But she won't save anyone else. Not anymore. She owed this last feat to herself. The world had nothing to do with this. Roger owed her this much.

That man had refused her everything - a family, a life with him, a future. Generous, unquestioning girl that she was, she gave and gave and gave. Until she had nothing left. He refused her everything but this. She was not going to let this last shred of happiness slip through her fingers.

Ace was hers, and hers alone.

So as the reports come in, as women were lined up and forced to abort, to smother their children, to kneel before the heavy absolute justice of this world, Rouge refuses to bend. She doesn't falter or feel the slightest shred of guilt. She was selfish. But it was alright. Just this once. Then the rest of her life will be lived for her son. So she'll be selfish, just this once.

Quietly satisfied, she waited and waited and waited. This was her due. Everything will be taken away from her soon enough but not this. Ace will be hers. She just wanted Ace. She just wanted a family - already slightly broken and uneven with Roger, but it was what she wanted.

So just this once, she'll be selfish.


End file.
